The launch of the government’s £30 million Waking Watch Relief Fund will take the financial sting out of fire safety for tens of thousands of residents of high-rise apartment blocks across England.
And fire detection and life safety specialist CDS is already seeing a growth in calls for its expertise following January’s announcement that the government could foot the bill.
The fund will pay for technology to replace current foot patrols in eligible apartment blocks of more than 18 metres high while potentially unsafe cladding is replaced.
At the moment hundreds of such buildings are paying for round-the-clock in-person patrols to ensure residents can sleep soundly at night without fear of fire breaking out.
The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government-funded scheme will direct £22 million towards cities with the most high-rise buildings with unsafe cladding – London, Manchester, Birmingham, Leeds, Liverpool, Bristol, Newcastle and Sheffield.
The remaining £8 million will be distributed elsewhere across England.
CDS has been heavily involved in designing, supplying, installing and maintaining complex fire safety detection systems in multi-storey residential blocks, many with numerous lifts, for several decades.
These include buildings for student, private rental and housing association tenants across the UK.
The Waking Watch Relief Fund’s launch now means those not yet protected with technologically advanced fire alarm systems may be able to dispense with costly foot patrols in favour of a safer state-of-the-art alternative.
The addition of a new piece of technology to the CDS arsenal will provide even greater confidence to high rise dwellers.
The new C-TEC EVAC-ALERT system, which helps the fire and rescue service evacuate all or part of a building in an emergency, complies with the new BS 8629:2019 standard which gives guidance on the type of evacuation system installed in high rise blocks.
Housed in a vandal-resistant locked cabinet for use only by the fire and rescue service, the control panel features an intuitive interface, bright LED indicators and easy-to-operate toggle switches for each evacuation zone.
For more information on fire safety systems which could be funded under the government’s new £30 million Waking Watch Relief Fund contact CDS at enquiries@cdsys.co.uko or on 0116 275 0177.
